


the tear in my heart

by midweekrobins



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 22:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8030815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midweekrobins/pseuds/midweekrobins
Summary: holding on is more painful than moving on





	the tear in my heart

It was over.

The logical part of Shu’s mind told him that Nito was no longer his, and never would be again. It also told him that they could still recover from their tragic loss. But for once, Shu didn’t want to listen to this logic; his mind as an artist could only process the hurt and the pain he was feeling from losing not just his greatest masterpiece, but, as he was trying to deny, a person who was so much more to him.

That was one of the reasons Nito had left. He wanted to be his own person… but couldn’t he see? People were so ugly. Dolls were so much more beautiful, and Shu had made sure that he was the most beautiful doll to grace the earth and the ungrateful masses. After all of his hard work, he was still betrayed by the doll he was most proud of. 

(The doll who had cut his strings and become a boy.)

“Oshi-san?”

The tentative voice broke through Shu’s silent angst from the other side of the door. “Are ya gonna come eat dinner? I know yer still upset ‘n all, but y’barely been eatin’ lately…”

Shu ignored the concern in favor of focusing on hand-stitching some detailed embroidery that he had been working on. (Honestly, it was nothing special, but rather just something to keep his hands and mind occupied until he could work on his real art again.) After a moment, he heard Kagehira sigh and seem to give up as he walked away. Absentmindedly, Shu wondered how long it would be until this doll abandoned him as well. He had treated Nito as his most prized possession, and considering the rough treatment he gave Kagehira in comparison, it was a wonder he hadn’t left already. 

The paranoid part of his mind told him that maybe Kagehira was only staying because he was living in Shu’s house. Wasn’t that okay though? It meant Kagehira was still tied to Shu’s puppet strings, Shu could still control him. But rather than reassure him, the thought just made him feel sick. He believed he had complete control over Nito, but this had still happened. A puppetmaster was only as good as his strings, and it felt like the strings Shu had been so confident in were turning out to be nothing more than old thread ready to snap at any time.

Shu wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after a bit he heard nervous footsteps shuffling in front of the door for a moment before setting something down and slowly backing off until the noise of the guest room door closing reverberated through the upstairs. 

Quietly, he pulled himself out of bed and opened the door to find a plate with a croissant and a cup of tea. Somehow, it was exactly what Shu would have ended up getting if he were to actually go to the kitchen to get food, because something this small and light was about all he had been able to stomach lately. Perhaps his doll was capable of thought after all.

(The last thing he needed was another doll thinking for itself.)

\---

Mika wasn’t sure what to do.

He had always understood his position in Valkyrie, and he’d been grateful to be a part of something so beautiful with such talented people. Sure, maybe they seemed a little weird, a little dysfunctional to outsiders, but Mika had never felt more at home and more motivated to be worthy of something great.

It never occurred to him that Oshi-san was capable of breaking, or that Nazuna would break away. He couldn’t help but feel that perhaps, he if was more talented, if he was smarter, he could have done something to stop all of this from happening. 

But he wasn’t. Despite all of his hard work, he was still just stupid Kagehira. And now, it really felt like stupid Kagehira was truly all alone in the midst of this chaos. Was someone like him really capable of keeping Valkyrie alive when the puppetmaster and his favorite doll both seemed to have given up? 

But Mika didn’t have a choice. Valkyrie was where he belonged, and even if he had a long way to go, he knew that he could never feel like this in another unit. So he knew that he couldn’t give up on Shu, just like he hadn’t given up on Mika despite all of his shortcomings.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this while drunk idk if it's worth continuing LOL sweats... i'm so invested in shu slowly getting over nazuna and mika being by his side the whole time.... cryyyy i love shumika


End file.
